Dee Perez-Scott likes politicians who buy votes with deficit spending

Politicians know they will get more votes when they give constituents what they want. For years, that meant bringing home the bacon rather than trimming the fat. And it meant not asking constituents to pay for expensive policies.

More recently, to score political points, many on the right have demonized any suggestion that higher revenue be part of the debt solution. And many on the left have sworn that Medicare and Social Security must not be cut in any way.

And with the ascendance of the Tea Party and the destructive debt ceiling debate, many lawmakers have espoused unyielding and often impractical fiscal positions, making a compromise on serious debt reduction difficult to achieve.

What happens if the long-term debt is not addressed? The government would end up devoting ever larger portions of the federal budget to pay interest costs, which will curtail its ability to make needed investments and reduce its flexibility to respond to emergency situations.

Why entitlement spending must be reined in

What's more, growth could suffer, tamping down job creation and household income. That, in turn, could create a kind of doom loop.

Low growth ravages government revenue and increases the need to borrow. More borrowing builds debt. Higher debt increases pressure to tighten fiscal policies. And tighter fiscal policies can slow economic growth. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Won't the debt ceiling deal help? Yes and no. If everything goes as legislated it would cut deficits over the next 10 years by at least $2.1 trillion. But that's only half the cost of extending the Bush tax cuts -- which many lawmakers want to do.

What's more, fiscal experts say, the deal does more to solve a political crisis rather than address the country's biggest fiscal problems.

That's because it relies too heavily on cuts to discretionary spending, which is not the major driver of long-term deficits. And it all but ignores the need to reform entitlements and raise more revenue -- both of which are crucial to improving the country's long-term solvency.

A bevy of balanced, bipartisan debt reduction plans have been put out by various groups in the past year -- most notably President Obama's own fiscal commission.

A majority in Congress, however, has yet to back any of them. In the meantime, all eyes this fall will be on the bipartisan super committee, to see whether the 12 members will exceed their mandate to propose at least $1.2 trillion in debt reduction over the next decade.

Dee Perez-Scott: Solution to the Budget Problem

"Pass a law that says that any time there’s a deficit of more than three percent of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election"-- Warren Buffet.

Congress can be bypassed " Under Article V of the U.S. Constitution, a “Convention for proposing Amendments” is convened when called for by the legislatures of two-thirds of the states. A proposed amendment would then need to be ratified by the legislatures of three-quarters of the states."